During a Thursday hearing, a judge said the Trump administration hasn’t presented enough evidence to justify labeling Anthropic a supply chain risk and banning the federal government from using the company’s technology.

Bloomberg and Axios were among the first to report the news. 

The dispute stems from stalled contract negotiations between Anthropic and the Department of Defense. Anthropic said it didn’t want its AI used for mass surveillance of Americans or for targeting or firing decisions involving lethal weapons, arguing the technology wasn’t ready. The Pentagon countered that a private company shouldn’t dictate how the military uses technologies, and said it would use the tools in “lawful” ways.

The government has also argued that Anthropic’s public criticism of the DoD justifies the ban — logic that U.S. District Judge Rita Lin called “really troubling,” warning it could set a precedent of retaliating against federal contractors who disagree with the administration. 

The DOD further claimed Anthropic could potentially disable or alter its AI models during warfighting operations — a claim that experts say lacks evidence. Lin agreed, saying she saw no proof Anthropic could alter a delivered model or “flip some kind of kill switch.”

Thursday’s hearing was part of one of two lawsuits Anthropic filed against the DOD in March, challenging the ban and risk designation. The other is being heard in Washington. 

Lin, who temporarily blocked the ban in March, is now weighing whether to make that order permanent. 

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